Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates generally to assisting a consumer in locating products available for purchase. In particular, a consumer can be provided with the locations of products within a physical retail store as well as the availability of products offered for sale through a corresponding online store as the consumer types the name of the product on a mobile, electronic computing device.
Background
Some retail stores extend across tens of thousands of square feet and offer thousands of products for sale. Many consumers visit such retail stores when shopping for a diverse set of products such as groceries, office supplies, and household wares. Typically, these stores can have dozens of aisles and numerous departments. Accordingly, traversing these aisles looking for specific products may be a challenging experience. Locating the general vicinity of the product is a first part of the process. Once the consumer arrives at the aisle or department of the product of interest, the particular product must be identified from among all of the products displayed within the aisle. Many products are sold in small packages and are therefore difficult to see easily. Further, the packaging of most products is designed to draw attention, so the consumer's vision can be inundated with numerous products attracting focus. Additionally, some products may be offered only through an online retail store that complements physical retail stores. It may not be self-evident to the consumer that a product offered for sale online would not also be offered at a corresponding physical retail store. A consumer may become frustrated by this chain of events and might pursue purchasing the product at another retail store.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure.